a rich city girl, unrelated to main plot Gao Yuanyuan as Xiao, a seventeen-year-old schoolgirl Li Shuang as Da Huan, a bicycle freestylist Xie Jian as Manager, manager of a courier company, Guei's boss Zhao Yiwei as Jian's Father, remarried after Jian's mother died Zhou Fanfei as Rong Rong, Jian's stepsister Liu Lei as Mantis, friend and landlord of Guei Themes According to Elizabeth Wright of Senses of Cinema, the juxtaposition of Guei and Jian, in particular their contrasting relation to the bicycle, highlights their differences in social standing and status. Guei is a new migrant who has come to the city with hopes for better income. On the other hand, Jian comes from an upwardly motivated city family concerned with providing the children with good education. The bicycle grants Jian status among his peers and impresses Xiao, the girl he fancies. To Guei, the bicycle, besides being a tool of the trade, is also a symbol of status and pride. It symbolises his participation and success in the city and makes him less of an outsider. Director Wang Xiaoshuai depicts both the new face of Beijing's youth through Jian and alludes to the disillusion of migrants from the country through Guei. In a secondary plot, Guei and Mantis spend their free time observing Qin, a young attractive girl living in a large house and owning a large number of clothes. They believe Qin is a rich city girl but notice that she does not seem happy or content with her material possession. Later, they find out that Qin is in fact a housemaid, also from the country, who likes to dress herself in her employer's clothes when she is home alone. According to Wright, Guei and Mantis's misconception of the Qin's social status is "an obvious indictment on the beguiling nature of surface images and material possessions". Release Beijing Bicycle was released on DVD on 9 July 2002 and distributed by Sony Pictures Classics in the United States. The DVD features subtitles in English. Reception Beijing Bicycle premiered on 17 February 2001, during the Berlin International Film Festival. The film clinched the Jury Grand Prix Silver Bear Award and its two young lead actors, Cui Lin and Li Bin, were bestowed the "New Talent Award". The film was released in cinemas in the United States on 11 January 2002 and over its 24 days on screen, earned a meager